From afar, I watched as the members of Omega took down any creature near the premise. I couldn’t help but be in awe. The creatures that had driven us back and had massacred the members of the support squad were wiped out in mere instants.

Right away, a battalion of what I could only assume to be special forces accompanying Omega set out and created a forward base closer to the center of the signature. Those guys weren’t doing things like any other group of normal exterminators. They were employing freaking military tactics.

I looked around and found the adjudicator.

“What’s the plan now? We were told to hold position until those guys arrived, right? I take it they can handle the situation and we aren’t needed anymore.”

The words had barely left my mouth when I felt my body being pulled away from her. Almost in a trance, I set out and made my way towards Athena. My steps were light and my body felt almost weightless.

“We received information that your companion has certain abilities. From your... quarrel with Exterminator 2A00114, we learned he can ward off his mind.”

Her eyes went from me to Theodor, who stood alone, dejected, staring out at the giant, fleshy abomination growing near the signature’s center. For a moment, her hands went up, and I felt a wave of pressure emanating from her. Theodor’s head jerked in her direction, and he shot her an angry glance.

“Yes, there’s no doubt. He’s somehow able to hinder me from scanning or influencing his mind.”

Theodor spat on the ground, but the woman didn’t react at all.

“You’re to come with us. We might need your abilities,” she commanded him.

Theodor looked at her for a moment before he shrugged.

“And here I thought you’d be able to handle this incident on your own,” he said.

“It’s merely a precaution,” she said in a flat voice.

“Now hold on. What about me?” I spoke up.

“Low-ranking personnel such as yourself would only be in the way,” she said, not bothering to hide the condescension in her voice.

“Wait, no fucking way. I’m not letting you take Theodor there just to-“

I was cut off when I felt a wave of power wash over me.

“You’re not needed,” she said with the slightest edge to her voice.

“Oh yeah? We handled the last A-class incident in this city, and I’m pretty damn sure more of them are around! Do you even know what those fuckers are capable of, how strong they-“

“We’ve been briefed on your encounter. We’re more than prepared.”

Theodor began laughing.

“Oh, so you’re prepared? You’ve got no clue what’s coming our way, none! You might not believe me, but you’ll need us!”

Finally, the guy named Ares joined the conversation.

“If they want to tag along, let them. But let me make one thing clear,” he continued, turning to me. “The moment you’re in the way, I’ll get rid of you.”

There was no humor in his voice. He didn’t grin or laugh. He just stared at me. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and nodded.

“Target is about eight hundred meters ahead of us,” Hades said.

“What are we going to do? Not like there are any civilians in the area, right? Might as well blast it from afar,” Hephaestus suggested with a shrug.

Athena stared at him before she sighed.

“Yes, of course, just blast it away and be done with it.”

The big man shrugged.

“Might be our safest bet.”

“We tried that in Estonia and you remember how that turned out,” she retorted.

The young woman’s eyes focused on the fleshy growth. For a moment, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she grimaced.

“What we see here isn’t the signature’s origin, but a consequence of it, something that’s being grown. The true origin is deep within, and whatever’s causing it has not entered our reality yet. While a direct attack might damage or destroy the... structure, it will most likely not harm the creature that’s creating it.”

“Well, great, so what are you suggesting?”

“That we’ll have to make our way to the root and pluck it,” Hades cut in.

“You’re saying we have to crawl into that... thing?” Hephaestus said, frowning as he stared ahead.

“Considering your company of choice back in Varna, I’d think you’d be all over this,” Hades joked.

“And look who’s talking. Want me to tell the rest about your little escapade back in Belgium? You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

As I listened, I couldn’t help but stare at them. They’d been briefed about the incident. They knew what was at stake and those assholes... they were joking around! Opened my mouth, tried to find the courage to speak up, but before I could Ares set out into the wasteland ahead.

“Let’s go. It can’t be worse than what we went up against in Belarus.”

“Freaking hell, man, don’t remind me of that,” Hephaestus cursed as he set out after him.

Hades and a quiet Athena soon followed him.

“And here we have them, the heroes who are going to save the world,” Theodor mumbled.

“Just shut up, man,” I cursed as I rubbed my temples.

As much as I hated to admit it, though, those guys were the real deal. On our way, a multitude of creatures attacked us. Yet, none of them got even close to us. The moment Hephaestus saw them, he incinerated them with his energy weapon. I couldn’t help but stare at it. Shit man, if I’d something like that myself...

Before long, I felt something reaching into my mind again. I knew what it meant, proxy organisms. The disgusting lumps of flesh were hiding themselves between the surrounding rubble, sending out their powers unseen. With Athena around, however, they were powerless. The moment she felt the slightest hint of their power, she ground them into nothing but bloody mist with the smallest of gestures. I mouthed a ‘holy shit’ when I saw how easily she took care of them.

“That’s nothing,” she said when she saw the look on my face.

As I trudged along, not even bothering to pull out my gun, I heard a sound to my right. It was quiet and no one but me seemed to give it any attention. When I turned, I saw a group of shapeshifters who were about to ambush us. The fuckers were huge, most likely B-class. I ripped out my gun and was about to call out a warning when Ares rushed past me. Before I or even the creatures knew what was happening, he was right between them. A second later, his strange, jagged blades were in his hands, flashed through the air and he stood amidst heaps of gore. Holy shit, what the hell was this guy!? Theodor, Sandra, and I had been almost killed when we encountered a single B-class shapeshifter. This guy here cut down an entire group of them as if it was nothing.

“Ares has been enhanced,” a voice spoke up next to me.

When I turned around, I saw Hades, who’d set in next to me.

“First Marcia and now you guys? Does the damned codex mean anything these days?”

Hades laughed.

“The technology developed in Bucharest was crude. All they did was to push alien flesh into the bodies of low-ranking exterminators, hoping they’d assimilate it and develop superhuman abilities. Ares here’s far different. You could say he’s lab grown. Every part of his body has been enhanced since he was a child. Muscles, tendons, bones, all of it. He’s faster and more powerful than any of us, but there’s no hint of the corruption the Bucharest-types showed.”

I nodded while I stared at Ares.

“Guess I might have some fun as well,” Hades continued.

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He activated one of his gadgets and seemed to listen to something I couldn’t hear.

“Seventeen signatures to our west,” he said, more to himself than to me.

He reached into one of his many pockets and brought out a handful of small metallic cubes and threw them beside himself. I watched in wonder as the sides of the tiny cubes opened up and revealed pairs of sophisticated, translucent wings. A moment later, they scurried away and vanished through the rubble. I was about to ask what I’d just seen when explosions went up to our west. Hades was quiet for a few more seconds before a satisfied smile showed on his face.

“What the hell was that?”

“AI controlled bombing drones. I reasoned the flying ones were best for this type of territory.”

“Freaking hell, how come I don’t get any of the good shit?”

The man smiled at me.

“They are my invention and far too delicate and valuable.”

For a low-ranking exterminator such as myself, I added in my mind.

The rest of the way we were unimpeded, and we didn’t see a hint of any other creatures. Or, I thought, they’d been recalled to the disgusting, organic structure in front of us.

Now that we were closer, I knew what it had reminded me of before: a hive. As I stared at it, two more tentacles slithered from the ground and writhed themselves around it. Right at that moment, another surge of energy erupted from it. This time, though, I felt it only for a moment. Athena’s hands were up, and she warded it off with little effort. Or so I thought, until I saw the pearls of sweat on her forehead. Once it was over, she inhaled deeply.

“What the hell have we gotten ourselves into this time?” Hephaestus cursed and spat on the ground.

“That’s just the beginning,” Theodor muttered in his manic voice. “If you’re getting scared already, you might as well run.”

In an instant, the giant of the man walked up to Theodor. For a second he just stared at him, but then I saw him ball one of his hands to a fist. When the punch came, Theodor didn’t dodge or retreat. Instead, he caught the man’s fist and glared at him. For a second, Hephaestus was surprised before he grinned at Theodor.

“Guess you aren’t completely useless,” he said before he walked off.

During their brief argument, Hades had sent out a few more of his drones, and soon enough explosions went up around us.

“Nothing but a few stragglers,” he said, shrugging.

As if to answer him, the flesh of the hive burst open, and a small, disgusting orifice pushed itself outward. Thick, dark blood poured from it before a small ball of energy revealed itself. For a moment, I thought it would crash to the floor, but when it hovered in the air, I knew what I was seeing. My eyes grew wide and my head jerked towards Theodor, who stared at the thing with a mixture of fear and contempt. Shit, I knew one of them was around. I fucking knew it. If there were proxy organisms, one of them had to be controlling them.

“A-class,” I said in a shaken voice. “Another A-class.”

In an instant, the creature began forming a body. Flesh and liquids were torn from the hive and gathered around the ball of energy. I watched as organs grew, bones formed and finally appendages.

“What the fuck are you doing? If you don’t stop it now then-“

I was cut off when the creature’s powers spread out and assaulted me. Images were pushed into my mind. I saw the hive extending, an opening forming, but after mere moments, the images were pushed aside. Athena was hovering in the air, pushing the thing’s powers back. Her eyes were wide and I could feel the ghastly creature’s anger, its outrage. In an instant, Hephaestus unloaded his weapon on the thing. Even from where I stood, I could feel the blazing heat of its blast and for a second, I thought he’d incinerate the creature. Things weren’t that easy, of course. This was an A-class organism, after all. The creature gathered all of its power and diverted shot after shot. As it did, I saw Hades grin slightly before he released a dozen tiny metal balls into the air. They reached the creature in an instant. Bombs, I thought, but instead, they formed a net that surrounded the creature. I saw it push forward, felt it send out surge after surge of its power, but the net didn’t break. Instead, it seemed to dampen the creature’s power and kept it trapped.

“It won’t hold for long,” Hades said. “Athena, you ready?”

The woman nodded and walked forward. She was in no hurry and approached the creature step by leisurely step. The air around her crackled and for a moment, I had trouble breathing. Then she sent an avalanche of mental power forward. The creature’s body was pushed together and almost folded into itself. She sent her hands forward, then down, and her eyes grew wide before she smiled. The creature was writhing, shaking, and tried desperately to push against Athena’s powers, but it was futile. When it finally stopped moving, a concentrated look washed over Athena’s face. It was gone within moments.

“There’s more of them in there. I can feel at least three of them. What they are creating here isn’t so much a portal, but a womb. We got all the information we need. Ares, take it out.”

With that, the tall man pulled out his jagged weapons and rushed forward. The moment he was in front of the creature, Hades’ net vanished and I saw Are’s weapons cut deep into the creature’s already battered body. Flesh, organs and appendages rained to the ground. Before he could annihilate it, though, the small ball of energy abandoned the remains of its body and vanished back into the hive. Or the womb, as Athena had called it. As Ares walked back, I saw the annoyed look on his face.

“Sorry, it got away.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Athena said. “It’s weakened now and won’t be much of a danger anymore.”

Once more, I couldn’t help but stare at them in awe.

“Wait, this was an A-class organism, wasn’t it? How are you guys able, to, to... to just... I mean,” I rambled.

“We’re used to creatures like that,” Athena said matter-of-factly.

I was about to say something else, but she’d already turned to the rest of her team.

“All right, when I pushed into its mind, I saw where we have to go. It’s below the surface level, at the center of the womb, but the place’s a labyrinth. Hades, can you send in some of your little toys?”

The man shrugged and got out another bunch of small, airborne robots. He threw them into the air and they scurried away, entering the womb through the small orifice.

“Won’t do much, but it might give us a rough understanding of the place,” he said.

“Nah, we tried that before,” I started. “With the amount of pressure and interference, sentry drones won’t-“

“Those are made using a different technology,” he cut me off, slightly annoyed. “In case of mental pressure or other interferences, pure mechanics still work. They are sonar based. Doesn’t matter if they get destroyed. As long as they send out a signal, we’re set.”

Freaking hell, how I’ve never heard of this shit?

“Got it. It’s rough and incomplete, but it’s the best I can do.”

“Well, let’s get right into it,” Hephaestus called out. “Got a point of entry, Hades?”

Hades checked the screen again before he shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Hephaestus grinned and before I knew what was happening, he blew apart the flesh in front of us.

“Hey, freak, get going! Move it!” he snapped at Theodor, who’d spaced out.

As he set out to follow the group, Athena fell in next to him.

“When it first appeared, was the creature able to reach into your mind?” she questioned him.

Theodor shook his head.

“No, there was no need. Those things already know what I’m capable of. It came to learn more about you guys.”

“What do you mean?”

“It wasn’t trying to stop or fight you. It came to analyze your abilities,” Theodor said in a somber voice.

“And it almost was destroyed because of it. It’s powerless now.”

“That only proves that whatever we’re up against doesn’t mind sacrificing an A-class organism to probe you guys. It might not have touched your minds, but it could deduce your abilities. And now, everything in there knows about them.”

Athena was quiet after that, but she didn’t seem worried. Her expression showed a clear ‘then let them know.’

By now, we’d reached the fleshy walls of the womb and the opening Hephaestus had created.

“Fucking stinks,” Ares cursed as he stepped inside.

The rest of the team followed him undeterred, and even Theodor didn’t so much as look up before he entered the flesh tunnel in front of us. Freaking hell, how can they just... I took one step forward, retched and almost cringed as the flesh in front of me wriggled. Then I stepped through the syrupy blood.

As I followed the group through the fleshy tunnels, I noticed the thick liquids that were pumped through them, almost as if they were veins. Once more, I shuddered.

Occasionally, some lone, lost creature attacked us, but they were easily dispatched.

Before long, the tunnel branched off into a multitude of others. Athena had been right. The place was a freaking labyrinth. As I stared at the flesh all around us, my head hurt. The tunnels themselves seemed to grow and change as we wandered through them, bending into impossible directions and snaking around themselves. It seemed almost as if gravity and our laws of physics didn’t matter here. Sandra’s words from back when we’d entered the ziggurat came back to my mind.

‘This place’s under the creature’s influence and has been altered. It’s not entirely part of our reality anymore.’

My thoughts were interrupted when Hades approached and handed me a small gadget.

“A transmitter,” he said. “Might not do much in here, but in case we get separated, you can roughly pinpoint our location.”

I checked the device’s small screen. It was working and I could see six little dots all next to each other.

“It’s got a communications channel as well, but with all the interference, there’s no telling if it will work,” he added, shrugging.

I stared at the device for a moment longer before I pocketed it.

Here and there, something inside the flesh walls seemed to twitch. At first, I thought it was the strange, disgusting liquids that were perpetually pumped through them, but when I focused on one such spot, I saw something else. It was a twisted body. At first I thought it was a person, but when eyes focused on me, I realized it was some sort of creature. It twitched again, and I ripped out my gun to blast it apart. Yet, the creature didn’t attack. Instead, it seemed trapped, seemed to have been incorporated into the disgusting creation. For a little longer, it stared at me in abject misery before its eyes fell shut.

“Fucking hell,” I cursed.

If it’s using its own to grow this place, then all those people that had been dragged away... shit!

Following Hades’s rough map, we soon found ourselves in a wide chamber. Dozens of tunnels branched out from it. For a moment, my eyes wandered around. Then I noticed a tiny glowing ball above us. I opened my mouth, but the words were trapped in my throat when I noticed another one, and then another. Within moments, I counted more than half a dozen of the things.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I finally cursed.

When the rest of the group heard this and saw what I was staring at, flesh was already being torn from the walls above us. This time, however, the creatures didn’t create individual bodies. No, they formed into a single, gigantic entity. A moment later, an onslaught of mental power hit us. Athena screamed up as she tried to ward it off, but she was pushed back and blood began streaming from her nose.

“God dammit!” she screamed up.

Hephaestus pointed his weapon and shot at the amalgamation of A-class organisms, but none of his shots had an effect, almost as if the energy of his weapon was being negated. A moment later, Ares rushed forward, and Hades sent out a multitude of his bombing drones. Neither attack had any success. Ares was restrained and pushed to the ground by another surge of energy while Hades’ drones were diverted and thrown against the surrounding walls. Flesh exploded, covering all of us in gore and disgusting, thick liquids. Then the entire chamber shook. Walls collapsed inward and the ground below us ripped apart like a membrane. I felt Athena using her powers to protect the rest of her team, but she didn’t waste any of it on me or Theodor.

Before I could so much as scream, the two of us slithered down the gorge in the center of the room. I crashed against wet flesh, washed through tunnels and almost drowned in blood and gore before it was over.

My entire body hurt. I felt sick to my stomach and vomited. Theodor near me spat on the ground and swatted pieces of gore off his body. For a moment, he stared upward before he turned to me.

“You know, Dylan, I always hated water slides, but this-“

“The fuck are you talking about!?” I snapped at him. “We’re fucking lost! We’re lost somewhere in this, this... whatever this thing is! What the hell do we do now?”

Fuck monsters and fuck his goddamn jokes!